Principal's Report
We've received some very exciting news which you may have read about in The Riverine Herald this week. St Joseph’s College has been crowned winner of The Age's 2022 Schools that Excel category for non-government schools in rural and regional Victoria.
This means that our College has recorded the best improvement in VCE results in the past decade of any non-government school in regional Victoria. You can read all about this big announcement on the next page.
During the first few months of this year the College has undergone various reviews and evaluative processes, one of which included the Leadership Structure. Our new structure includes new appointments, such as Assistant Principals and Directors of each Campus (Brigidine - our current site) and (Kildare - our new Campus). It gives me great pleasure to share these appointments with our community:
(Please see below.)
Our Kildare Campus has been progressing really well, but a couple of hurdles beyond our control have impacted on the building progress. As everyone is aware there are delay issues across the whole building construction industry. What does this mean for us? It means our Year 7 students will begin school on our Brigidine Campus for Term 1 of 2023. This will provide a wonderful opportunity for them to experience the culture and history of St Joseph’s with our other staff and students. At this stage, they will move to Kildare Campus to commence Term 2.
This week was the Feast of the Assumption and I believe it is fitting to share some thoughts on Mary, the Mother of God, who is a role model of love and inclusivity. Mary is a contemporary source of inspiration; she chats to all, she cries with all, she celebrates with all, but perhaps most importantly she listens with an open heart. A woman of spirit who is enlivened by faith and her relationship with God; she truly is an excellent example of strength and kindliness. May we aspire to have just some of her openness, her loving embrace of others and her strong kindliness.
Anne Marie Cairns
Principal
It gives us great pleasure to announce our new Leadership Team for 2023. We will continue to announce subsequent positions over the coming weeks.
Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching
Lisa Saillard
Lisa is a highly qualified teacher with more than 30 years experience across both the State and Catholic Education systems.
She has been a member of our St Joseph's Leadership Team as Learning & Teaching Leader since 2017 and prior to this held roles as Learning Leader at both St Joseph's College and Northcote High School.
She is incredibly passionate about school improvement and is looking forward to continuing to ensure that the teaching and learning programs provided at St Joseph’s enables every child to reach their full potential.
Assistant Principal - Staffing and Culture
Rachel McAsey
Rachel grew up locally before heading off to Melbourne to study Business (Marketing) at Monash University and gaining employment at Collingwood Football Club and the NBA in Marketing. She then returned home to work for the local Member of Parliament before transitioning to teaching in 2004, where she first worked at Echuca High School & Echuca College and held positions of leadership through the amalgamation and redevelopment process. She was appointed to St Josephs as a College Leader in 2016. During this time she has held portfolios of Operations and Staff & Governance and undertook further study (Masters of Instructional Leadership – Melb Uni and Catholic Studies – ACU) in recent years.
Heavily involved in our local community, Rachel is a current member of St Mary’s Parish, a Board Member of VIVID and on the Risk & Audit Committee of ERH. She is committed & passionate about school and system improvement. She was delighted with the recent acknowledgement of work in this area with St Joseph's being recognised as the winner of The Age's 2022 Schools that Excel category for non-government schools in rural and regional Victoria and is determined to continue to see more of this as we build our school into the future. Her driving focus for the future is that our students continue to receive a high quality and contemporary education here in Echuca.
Student Wellbeing
Suzanne Pola
Suzanne has been teaching in Catholic Education for more than 20 years. She is currently an experienced Deputy Principal at Loyola College, with leadership experience in learning and teaching, student wellbeing and staff development. She also has a Masters of Education from Monash University and has worked outside the education sector.
As an Alumni of our College, she is looking forward to returning ‘home’ and having the opportunity to work in a regional setting again where she can embrace community in and out of school.
Suzanne has chaired and worked on various committees during her career, dedicated to the further development of empowering our learners, creating contemporary spaces, development of learning analytics of student data and embedding Catholic Social Teaching in the colleges' curriculum frameworks. She was awarded the Loyola College Medal for Service and Loyalty to the College and remains grateful for this acknowledgement.
She is looking forward to working with staff to further develop environments, both in and out of the classroom, that foster reconciliation and create spaces of hope. Alongside working with learners to make the right choice and building on their capacity and awareness in the following capabilities; intellectual/rational, emotional and moral.
Faith and Community
Lee Pethybridge
Lee has also been teaching and working in Catholic Education for many years and is currently working at Catholic Education Sandhurst as the Leader of the Religious Education Team. Prior to this Lee was the Catholic Identity Leader and teacher at St Augustine’s in Kyabram for over 13 years. Lee brings experience from multiple Catholic settings and she is looking forward to working in a school with a Brigidine charism, with a renewed focus on student agency.
College Leader - Enrichment & Inclusion
Adam Prime
Adam has been the College Leader of Enrichment and inclusion for last six years. During that time he has expanded the level of funding for our school resulting in a greater level of support provisioning to our most vulnerable students.
Adam’s approach in this space is one of an open heart and a listening ear. Adam is looking forward to a new approach of student support which will range from one on one support, internal programs and an expansion of internal partnerships.
Business Manager
Cheryle Ryan
Cheryle has been the full time Business Manager at St Joseph’s College for more than 28 years.
During that time Cheryle has been nothing but a dedicated, reliable, professional who is incredibly competent in her role. She loves working in Catholic education and loves St Josephs, where she works tirelessly behind the scenes to contribute to the improvement in learning spaces and facilities for our college communities.
Cheryle is a trusted member of the Sandhurst Business Manages association to which she is highly regarded for her thoughtfulness, caring and thought provoking answers. She is honest, caring, approachable and a genuine person.
Her main priority moving forward is the allocation of resources at Kildare Campus and working with Anne Marie and the Leadership team as we transition to a multi campus college.
Director of Brigidine Campus
Ged Ryan
Director of Kildare Campus
Jarrod O’Brien
Director of Data and Improvement
Rhys Leslie
Co-Directors of Capacity and Coaching
Kristen Watson & Janelle Maxfield
